Vemma
Last night, I found myself on Skype with a gentleman named Shawn Stoik who was telling me about this fantastic new product, and the unbelievable opportunity I had to "get in early" in marketing Verve to Canada.
Within about four seconds, I was pretty sure it was a pyramid scheme. But I played along for an hour and asked the tough questions (to which he didn't have answers).
Here's why I think it's a pyramid scheme.
I was brought into a meeting by a friend who told me she wanted my advice for a new social media marketing company she started up (or so I thought).
Shawn started off by telling me how much money he and all his friends were making in this "billion dollar" business. He mentioned that he retired when he was 26, and proceeded to show me his pay cheque for last month - $3,600.
I had to hold back a laugh.
Not only is $3,600 not an incredible sum of money for a 30 year old "retiree", he was adamant that it was a REAL cheque written from the company's president.
Usually when managers assure me that the company pays with real money, I get a little concerned.
He then went further to insist that the product is endorsed by Dr. Oz and Oprah. There was a lengthy discussion about the incredible health benefits of the product such as anti-inflammatory properties, cancer prevention, fighting off colds, etc. I let it slide, but the health claims would prove to be an interesting point when I did more research later (see bottom of page).
The real red flag came when he couldn't explain this one simple question: Where is the income produced?
The products are never sold outside the pyramid, so I was failing to grasp how thousands of dollars could be generated per month in revenue per salesperson. I tried at least three times to frame the question differently, but each time he just went on to tell me how fast the company is growing, how much money he's making, and how I don't want to miss out on this opportunity because there will be dozens of
Within about four seconds, I was pretty sure it was a pyramid scheme. But I played along for an hour and asked the tough questions (to which he didn't have answers).
Here's why I think it's a pyramid scheme.
I was brought into a meeting by a friend who told me she wanted my advice for a new social media marketing company she started up (or so I thought).
Shawn started off by telling me how much money he and all his friends were making in this "billion dollar" business. He mentioned that he retired when he was 26, and proceeded to show me his pay cheque for last month - $3,600.
I had to hold back a laugh.
Not only is $3,600 not an incredible sum of money for a 30 year old "retiree", he was adamant that it was a REAL cheque written from the company's president.
Usually when managers assure me that the company pays with real money, I get a little concerned.
He then went further to insist that the product is endorsed by Dr. Oz and Oprah. There was a lengthy discussion about the incredible health benefits of the product such as anti-inflammatory properties, cancer prevention, fighting off colds, etc. I let it slide, but the health claims would prove to be an interesting point when I did more research later (see bottom of page).
The real red flag came when he couldn't explain this one simple question: Where is the income produced?
The products are never sold outside the pyramid, so I was failing to grasp how thousands of dollars could be generated per month in revenue per salesperson. I tried at least three times to frame the question differently, but each time he just went on to tell me how fast the company is growing, how much money he's making, and how I don't want to miss out on this opportunity because there will be dozens of